Sales kickoff agenda: 2-day and 3-day templates
Two sales kickoff agenda templates, one for two days and one for three, with a logistics tag on every block that tells the venue which room, setup, AV, food and transfers it needs.
A sales kickoff agenda for a team that flies in starts with an arrival evening, gives one day to the plan (the general session, product, the compensation plan and breakouts) and a second day to practice and recognition, ending with an awards night. The three-day version adds a full arrival day and an optional leadership half day before departures. Each block in the templates carries a logistics tag, so the same agenda works for the CRO and for the venue. Jump to the two-day template or the three-day template.
The times in both templates are examples to adapt to your flights, sessions and team, not rules. Your local planner confirms the rooms, people and timings with the venue.
Choose the length first: one day, two days or three
Start with where people travel from, because the length follows the travel:
- One day suits a team that mostly lives near the venue. Everyone arrives in the morning and goes home that night, so there are no room nights and the awards moment sits in the general session or at an early dinner.
- Two days plus an arrival evening fit a team that flies in. Vantly's sales kickoff destination pages describe this shape as enough for a keynote, breakouts and an awards night.
- A half day makes sense when leaders need a closed session before people leave, and a third day when the trip is long. The same pages suggest at least three days for the longer cross-country trips.
Decide the length with the sales leader before you send anything to a venue, because it sets the room block, the number of meals and the transfer plan. For the full picture of the event, see sales kickoffs planned by a local planner.
Two-day sales kickoff agenda (with an arrival evening)
The two-day template runs an arrival evening, a day for the plan and a day for practice and recognition, with departures the morning after the awards night. Every block carries a logistics tag: the room, the setup, the AV, the food and any transfer it needs.
| Time (example) | Block | What happens | Who runs it | Logistics tag (room, setup, AV, food, transfer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival evening, 2:00 p.m. | Arrivals window | Reps land and check in; bags are held if rooms are not ready | Organizer | Room: lobby and a bag store. Transfer: shuttles built from the flight list, with a buffer for delays |
| Arrival evening, 4:00 p.m. | Tech rehearsal | Every presenter's final deck is loaded and the stage is tested | Production or AV owner | Room: general session room. Setup: stage and seating set. AV: sound, screens, clickers and walk-on music |
| Arrival evening, 6:30 p.m. | Welcome reception | Badges and agenda cards handed out, first conversations | Organizer | Room: reserved reception space. Food: reception menu with the headcount sent by the venue's deadline |
| Day 1, 7:30 a.m. | Breakfast | An open window rather than one sitting | Venue | Room: close to the general session room. Food: breakfast with the dietary list |
| Day 1, 8:30 a.m. | Opening general session | The CEO or CRO sets out the year and the plan | CEO or CRO | Room: general session room, set the night before. Setup: theater. AV: full stage, one owner calling cues |
| Day 1, 10:45 a.m. | Product and positioning | What is new and how reps position it | Product and enablement | Room: same room, no turnover. AV: demos with an offline backup. Food: coffee refreshed outside the room |
| Day 1, 12:15 p.m. | Lunch | Seated by region or segment if leaders want it | Venue | Room: dining space near the general session. Food: lunch with the dietary list |
| Day 1, 1:30 p.m. | Segment or role breakouts | Each team turns the plan into its own plan | Sales managers | Room: breakout rooms near the main room, one per group. Setup: cabaret. AV: one screen and one mic per room |
| Day 1, 3:30 p.m. | Compensation plan by role | Each role walks through its plan and asks questions | Sales leaders and sales operations | Room: breakout rooms, reset during the break, not during the session. AV: one screen per room |
| Day 1, 7:00 p.m. | Team dinner | Teams eat together after the plan day | Organizer | Room: private or reserved dining space. Transfer: booked if the dinner is off property |
| Day 2, 8:30 a.m. | Enablement workshops and role-play | Practice on the new talk track, with feedback | Enablement and managers | Room: breakout rooms. Setup: small groups. AV: scenario sheets printed, screens only if needed |
| Day 2, 11:00 a.m. | Customer or partner panel | Real stories from the field, with questions | Sales leader as host | Room: back in the general session room. AV: panel mics and audience mics |
| Day 2, 12:30 p.m. | Lunch and an open afternoon | Time off, or one optional local activity with a sign-up list | Organizer and local planner | Food: lunch. Transfer: only if the activity is off property |
| Day 2, 6:30 p.m. | Awards night | Recognition at dinner, the high point of the kickoff | Sales leader and awards host | Room: dinner space set for recognition. AV: stage or riser, mic, slides with winners' names checked twice. Food: dinner with a non-alcoholic option. Transfer: rides back if off property |
| Departure morning, 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast, checkout and departures | Bags out, transfers in waves | Organizer | Room: luggage storage or late checkout agreed in advance. Transfer: shuttles timed to flights |
This shape matches the sample run of show on our sales kickoff sample planning page, which walks through the logistics notes for each block in more detail.
Three-day sales kickoff agenda (arrival day plus an optional leadership half day)
The three-day template gives arrivals a full day, keeps the plan day and the practice and recognition day, and closes with an optional half day for leaders while everyone else departs. It also shows where one afternoon for the place fits: a golf window in the desert, a short ski outing in the mountains or a walkable dinner in a city.
| Time (example) | Block | What happens | Who runs it | Logistics tag (room, setup, AV, food, transfer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0, 11:00 a.m. | First arrivals window | Early flights land; reps check in and settle | Organizer | Room: lobby and a bag store. Transfer: first shuttle wave from the flight list |
| Day 0, 3:00 p.m. | Second arrivals window and tech rehearsal | Later flights land while presenters rehearse | Organizer and AV owner | Room: general session room for rehearsal. AV: sound, screens and decks tested. Transfer: second shuttle wave |
| Day 0, 6:30 p.m. | Welcome reception | Badges, agenda cards and a short welcome | Organizer | Room: reserved reception space. Food: reception menu with a headcount guarantee |
| Day 1, 8:30 a.m. | Opening general session and the plan | The CEO or CRO sets out the year | CEO or CRO | Room: general session room. Setup: theater. AV: full stage, one owner calling cues |
| Day 1, 10:45 a.m. | Product and positioning, compensation plan | What is new, then the plan for each role | Product, enablement and sales operations | Room: general session room, then breakout rooms. AV: demos with an offline backup |
| Day 1, 1:30 p.m. | Segment or role breakouts | Each team builds its own plan | Sales managers | Room: breakout rooms near the main room. Setup: cabaret. AV: one screen and one mic per room. Food: lunch before, coffee during |
| Day 1, 7:00 p.m. | Team dinner | Teams eat together after the plan day | Organizer | Room: private or reserved dining space. Transfer: booked if off property |
| Day 2, 8:30 a.m. | Enablement workshops and role-play | Practice on the new talk track, with feedback | Enablement and managers | Room: breakout rooms. Setup: small groups. Food: coffee refreshed between rounds |
| Day 2, 11:00 a.m. | Customer or partner panel | Stories from the field, with questions | Sales leader as host | Room: general session room. AV: panel and audience mics |
| Day 2, 1:00 p.m. | Afternoon for the place | A golf window, a short ski outing or a walkable city afternoon, with a sign-up list | Local planner | Transfer: booked to and from the activity. Food: lunch packed or at the venue |
| Day 2, 6:30 p.m. | Awards night | Recognition at dinner | Sales leader and awards host | Room: dinner space set for recognition. AV: stage, mic and checked slides. Transfer: rides back if off property |
| Day 3, 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast and checkout | Bags out, rooms cleared | Venue | Room: luggage storage agreed in advance |
| Day 3, 9:30 a.m. | Optional leadership session | A closed half day for leaders | CRO | Room: a small meeting room held for leaders. Food: coffee and lunch for the small group |
| Day 3, 10:00 a.m. | Departures in waves | Everyone else leaves | Organizer | Transfer: shuttles timed to flights |
If a company kickoff runs in the same week, hold the shared day for the whole company first and the sales-only day after, at the same venue. Our guide to the company kickoff meeting explains how that changes the main room, the breakouts and the room block. For how to weight the blocks themselves, see our guide to sales kickoff planning for sales leaders, and for sessions that double as practice, our guide to sales team building activities. For ideas that give each slot more life, see our guide to sales kickoff ideas.
The one-page sales kickoff meeting agenda for attendees
The templates are written for the organizer and the venue. Reps need something shorter: the sales kickoff meeting agenda they open on their phone or find in their room. Keep it to one page and include:
- Session titles and times, without the AV cues or setup notes.
- The room for each session, using the names on the venue's signs.
- Dress for each day and evening, including the awards night.
- What to bring, such as a laptop for the practice rounds or deal notes for the breakouts.
- Transfer times for arrival and departure, with the pickup point.
- One contact for questions on site.
Hand it out at the welcome reception with the badges, and send the same version by email a few days before.
What each block needs from the venue
A venue can only price and set the agenda when it sees the rooms behind it. Before you request quotes, turn the logistics tags into a short list:
- A general session room for everyone, with a stage, clear sightlines and sound that works from the back row.
- Breakout rooms close to the main room, enough for every group that runs at the same time, at full headcount.
- A reserved space for the welcome reception, the team dinner and the awards night, with the awards dinner space confirmed early.
- Transfers built by arrival window from the flight list, with a plan for late arrivals.
Ask each venue whether it can hold the general session and all the breakouts at the same time, and how many people it can sleep, seat and feed. Our guide to venue capacity for sleeping, meeting and dining covers the three numbers, and the sales kickoff checklist keeps the holds and deadlines in one place.
Copy the sales kickoff agenda template
To use either template, copy the table into your own sheet and keep the columns: time, block, what happens, who runs it and the logistics tag. Change the times to match your flights, and keep a tag on every block even when the order changes, because the tag is what the venue plans around.
If you only need one day on site, Vantly's one-day run-of-show and breakout room plan is a spreadsheet with two tabs: a run of show with time, session, room, setup, AV cue, presenter and transfer columns, and a breakout room plan.
The two-day and three-day agendas on this page are also available as Google Sheets. Open the two-day sales kickoff agenda template or the three-day sales kickoff agenda template and choose Make a copy to save it to your own Drive.
Turn the agenda into a run of show
The agenda says what happens and why; the run of show adds the minute-by-minute cues, room resets and AV calls. Once the agenda is locked, our sales kickoff production checklist for field marketing covers cue sheets, rehearsals and version control.
A shorter agenda for a sales team meeting or a sales training meeting
Not every gathering needs the full kickoff. A sales team meeting agenda for a region, a segment or a new quarter keeps the spine of the kickoff and drops the parts that depend on travel and a big stage. A sales training meeting goes one step further and puts practice at the center of the day.
What to keep from the kickoff templates:
- A short opening on the one message for the period, led by the sales leader.
- Practice in small groups on real deals, with a manager or coach in each room.
- Time for each team to turn the message into its own next steps.
- A brief recognition moment at lunch or at the close, rather than a separate night.
What to drop or shrink:
- The arrival evening, the room block and the transfers, when people live near the venue.
- The full stage, the walk-in music and the tech rehearsal. One screen and one mic per room can be enough.
- The awards night and the afternoon for the place, unless the meeting runs over two days.
- The compensation plan walk-through, unless the plan has changed since the kickoff.
| Time (example) | Block | What happens | Logistics tag (room, setup, AV, food) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | Breakfast and welcome | Arrivals, coffee and the agenda for the day | Room: near the main room. Food: breakfast with the dietary list |
| 9:00 a.m. | Opening | The sales leader sets out the message for the period | Room: one meeting room for everyone. AV: one screen and one mic |
| 9:45 a.m. | Practice round | Role-play on the talk track, with feedback from managers | Room: breakout rooms or corners of the main room. Setup: small groups |
| 12:00 p.m. | Lunch and recognition | A few words for the people behind recent wins | Food: lunch with the dietary list. AV: the mic from the main room |
| 1:00 p.m. | Deal reviews by team | Each team works through its open deals with its manager | Room: breakout rooms. Setup: cabaret |
| 3:00 p.m. | Next steps and close | Each team shares its commitments for the period | Room: back in the main room. Food: coffee refreshed |
For a sales team meeting rather than a training day, swap the morning practice round for a pipeline review by team. The times are examples to adapt. If the team flies in, the two-day template fits better.
Hand the logistics of your sales kickoff to a local planner
Send your dates or quarter, rough headcount and the cities your team flies from. We match your brief with a planner who books that destination, and they send back a turnkey proposal with prices.
Where a local planner helps
A Vantly local planner who knows the destination sets the rooms, the AV, the meals and the transfers against your agenda: the general session room and the breakouts at the same time, the reception and dinner spaces, and shuttles built from your flight list. Vantly works with more than 1,000 local planners across the US. The plan is tailor-made, and our intent is one vendor, one PO for the event.
You can see sample events as examples a local planner can tailor, not fixed packages, or browse local planners to see who works in the cities on your shortlist. A short brief saves a round of emails; see how to brief a local planner. When the budget comes next, our sales kickoff cost guide explains each line.
Send a brief with the headcount, the dates, the departure cities and the template you chose. Vantly matches that brief with a local planner, who produces a turnkey event proposal with prices. We send it within 48 hours, at no cost. Any price still waiting on a vendor's confirmation is marked as an estimate. From there you work with one local planner and get one all-inclusive quote, rather than a separate search for every venue and vendor.
Frequently asked questions
What should a sales kickoff agenda include?
A sales kickoff agenda needs the plan for the year, product and positioning, the compensation plan, role or segment breakouts, practice time, a customer or partner panel and recognition, plus arrival and departure logistics. Tag each block with its room, setup, AV, food and transfers so the venue can price it. See the two-day template.
How long should a sales kickoff be?
One day can suit a team that lives near the venue. When people fly in, two days plus an arrival evening leave room for a keynote, breakouts and an awards night. Add a half day when leaders need a closed session before people leave.
What does a three-day sales kickoff agenda look like?
The first day is arrivals and a welcome reception. The second is the plan: the opening session, product, the compensation plan, breakouts and a team dinner. The third is practice, a panel, an afternoon for the place and the awards night. The last morning holds an optional leadership session, then departures in waves.
When should the awards night happen?
Hold recognition at the end of a content day, over dinner, when the room is relaxed, rather than squeezing it between two sessions. In both templates the awards night closes the practice day, so the last evening ends on a high point and departures follow the next morning.
What is the difference between a sales kickoff agenda and a run of show?
The agenda says what happens, when and why, and it is what the CRO approves. The run of show adds the minute-by-minute cues, room resets, AV calls and presenter changes. Build the agenda first, then turn it into a run of show with our production checklist for field marketing.
Can we run a sales kickoff and a company kickoff together?
Yes. Hold the shared day for the whole company first and the sales-only day after, at the same venue, so people make one trip. Check that the main room seats everyone on the first day and that there are enough breakout rooms for the second. Our company kickoff guide covers the details.
Related guides
- Sales kickoff planning for sales leaders
- Sales kickoff production checklist for field marketing
- Company kickoff meeting
- National sales meeting planning
- Offsite agenda template for non-sales teams
- Sales kickoffs planned by a local planner
Ready to plan one? Get a custom quote for your sales kickoff.
Sources
- Vantly, Sales kickoff sample planning, day-by-day run of show
- Vantly, Q2 sales kickoff destinations, sample two- to three-day agenda and FAQ on length
- Vantly, Sales kickoff checklist
- Vantly, Company kickoff meeting, back-to-back section